Ch.34: Turning Point (3)
Ersha is returning to Arzew, after another fruitless trip she made in order to find a clue about her long lost brother's whereabouts. She is thinking of the secret tradition that her family follows of intermarrying only among their race. She considers this tradition as stupid. She then remembers her much younger self asking her father about the kid that was kept locked in their mansion's basement. Her father is startled to hear that she has seen this kid. Ersha remembers the prisoner having long blue hair and red eyes with concentric circles. She had tried speaking to him, but he hadn't responded anything. In the meantime, Navarus is talking about the same story to Neal, who yells at him to shut up and not mention the name Sermenys. Navarus calls him "impertinent" and mocks him for hating the nobility, despite the fact that he, himself, is an illegitimate child of a noble family. Neal then remembers the head of the Sermenys house calling Neal, as soon as he was born, a "disgrace to the household" for not being pureblood and urging the servants to lock the baby up indefinitely. A tear runs from his good eye and he wishes for all of the nobility to die. At the infirmary, Lark screams that he is fine and Angela and Setz turn to look at him. Lark tells Setz that it doesn't matter that he brought him to Crepuscule and then left him. He says that he was fine without him and that he is afterall thankfull that Setz brought him to this world, where he met Angela and made friends and was happy as a result. He then continues by saying that he had forgotten about him, so he doesn't need to worry about having left him. After he has finished talking, Setz looks at him for a while, and finally mumbles, "You didn't need me". After another small pause, he says that this news is a relief for him and gets up and announces that he is leaving. Lark is taken aback by this reaction. Setz puts on his clothes and thanks Angela for the treatment. He then bows respectfully to her, something that makes Angela feel embarrasement and she notes that Setz is acting too formal. As Setz slams the door behind him, Angela shouts at him to come again. She then turns to face Lark, in a state of uncontrollable anger. She starts hitting Lark, while screaming at him for what he said to Setz, but Lark is unable to understand what he said wrong. After she has finished beating Lark, Angela turns the other way and starts thinking over the fact that she should have raised Setz herself and that the boy ended up showing no emotion. Setz is walking down the corridor. Some flashbacks then pass through his mind: of Lark telling him that he had forgotten him, of his father telling him when he was young, that he is disappointed in someone for having no abilities, of Neal prompting him, some hours earlier, to leave him and Carne alone to talk. Setz stands by the wall for a while. Carne then comes to his mind and he decides to go see her, as she the girl always needs him. Navarus has finished torturing Neal. The boy is lying on the floor, with saliva drooling from his mouth and smoke coming out of his left, cursed eye. Navarus is standing on top of him with Sylvia by his side. He asks Neal if he is in pain and says that he is his puppet now that he has planted a curse in his eye, using his ability. He smashes Neal's face with his foot and then tells him that it was a mistake to hurt Angela's kid, since she is doing an important job that only she can do. Neal tries to understand for whom Navarus is talking, then turns to face him and starts laughing. He asks him if he is wondering why he is laughing and instantly says that he will not tell him and calls him a "son of a bitch". He then continues laughing loudly, at the thought that Navarus has no idea that Lark is a human. Navarus is staring apathetically at Neal and finally tells him to prepare himself to be "re-educated". Neal challenges him to try him and Navarus lifts his hand towards the boy and a loud BANG is heard. Nergal is standing by his carriage, lost in thoughts. Riu reminds him that they need to leave. Nergal agrees, while thinking that a new era is coming for the Crepuscule.